Born For This
by Cement Girl
Summary: AU MerDer. When a private girls' boarding school is declared unsafe, their male counterpart is forced to become co-ed.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Okay, I'm an uber long time lurker. And I _mean_ long time. But this just so happens to be my first work of fiction! Be kind, I have review-phobia. Oh and is it okay to appeal for a Beta? Anybody with a bitta' spare time and a lot of patience (I'm a very slow writer).

Yeah it's an AU, and I'm not going to big it up or beg you to read it. It's not an amazing work of literature, just a way of me getting my Grey's fantasies down on paper.

No age differences in this, they're all Seniors. I may have them all a tad OOC and the humour's probably non-existent. Like I said, I'm no Dickens.

So sit back, and maybe enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Grey's, there would be a lot less Gizzie and a lot more screen time for Markie-dear.

Chapter One: For A Pessimist, I'm Pretty Optimistic

'And this is why if, by some anti-miracle, I don't make it as a doctor, my back-up plan is architect. Then I will show those morons what it is to build a _real_ castle.'

Meredith Grey banged her head against the carriage window, watching the droplets of rain trickle down the glass and collect before being blown away by the wind.

'Cristina will you drop it? The place was old. Very old. So old I can't even begin to imagine what they used to do to people in that tower room. You know, the one with the bars?' Meredith sighed, she was rambling again, 'Anyway, what I'm trying to get at here is that the fact it was old meant that it was going to _have_ to become inhospitable at some point. It was all a matter of time. It wasn't due to crappy architecture.'

'That's not the point! Why did they let it get that bad in the first place?'

Meredith rolled her eyes, 'That's not their fault, they're not responsible for the upkeep.' She tipped her head back against the cushioned seat and stared at the flickering light above her.

'Mere, why do you care so much anyway? Do you have a thing for architects or something?' Izzie Stevens leaned forward in her seat, cocking her head to one side and raising an eyebrow expectantly.

'Huh?' Meredith looked across at her friend, brows furrowed.

'You keep defending them.'

'I don't defend anybody but myself.'

'Defend defend defend.' Izzie said in a sing-song tone.

'Nuh-huh.'

'Why don't you seem more pissed about this whole situation?' Cristina cut across.

'Because I think it'll be kind of awesome?' Izzie replied.

'What, with all the expensive ball gowns for the snobby dances?' Cristina sniped.

Addison Montgomery finally pulled her nose out of her book and let out an aggravated sigh. 'Will you guys shut _up_ already? Nobody cares! Mere's probably only not more mad about this 'cause it means she might finally get a decent lay. I agree, Cristina, it's fucked up, I'd rather focus on my education than have to deal with the.. distractions this entails. But I'm dealing. So you deal. You all just... deal!'

'...A decent lay? Gee, thanks Addie.'

'Meredith, you've kinda been asking for it these past few years I've known you.'

'Hm.'

And so Meredith went back to watching the water collect on the window. Except the rain was easing off a bit now, and she could just make out the landscape surrounding the train tracks. It was identical to what she was used to. Green. Very... green.

She drifted off into a dream world revolving around tequila, college parties in Manhattan and the feeling of male hands ghosting across her skin.

Maybe Addison was right, maybe she did want a decent lay. But what was wrong with that? She'd been deprived of all male attention these past two years, save a few of her teachers. And she was not about to even _think_ about a sex life with any of them.

Meredith Grey had vowed a long time ago to hate her mother eternally. Ellis Grey did nothing but put her daughter down until eventually she'd got so fed up with having to bring deal with a teenager, she'd packed Meredith's bags and off to boarding school she went.

However, Meredith was beginning to hate her mother a little less these days. Her hate campaign had reached a pinnacle at first, and had stayed that way for three consecutive years, never dying. But now it was beginning to dim.

Hey, maybe the gods liked her after all. The stupid posh girls school with the uniform she so disdainfully wore had been declared unsafe. And now she was being sent God knows where.

To a boys school. With... guys. Guys her own age. Maybe even hot guys. Hot, sexy guys who knew a good time. Maybe she could finally live a little. She wondered if they kept tequila locked away somewhere.

She was pulled out of her reverie by the sombre, tired tone of Miss Woodshot's voice warning them to get their things ready, it was nearly time to disembark.

* * *

After trudging at least half a mile across muddy fields, suitcase in hand, Meredith's clothes were sodden and her feet were numb. She hoped her mother was happy now.

She blanked out for most of the tour, back into her dream world. She only began to pay attention when they were shown to their dorms. There were two dormitories for the Seniors, one much smaller than the other (it had been converted from a classroom). Seeing as not many had decided to stay, there wasn't any need for masses of space. Albeit, Meredith hadn't exactly 'decided' to stay. This was, again, her mother's fault.

Meredith was in the larger dorm, along with Cristina, Izzie and two other girls she'd never really spoken to.

Addison was in the smaller.

As soon as she stepped foot in the dorm, she knew; she was home. Meredith had never known homely, or cosy, or friendly. She was accustomed to cold and wooden, and once her mother had sent her to boarding school, cold and stone. This was... cushioned, and all reds and browns and tapestries and hot water bottles.

Izzie immediately set about plumping pillows and checking for dust. Cristina belly flopped onto her bed and Meredith perched on the windowsill, surveying the grounds. Their two new roomies began unpacking their things.

Meredith's first thoughts were that the place was large. Very large. The playing fields were vast and she prayed to God that she wouldn't have to do anything remotely athletic. She was a woman!

One of the two nameless girls, the taller, blonde one, let out a small, introductory cough. 'Hey,' she smirked, 'I'm Erica Hahn.' She nudged the smaller, dark girl in the ribs.

'Oh! Um... I'm Callie. Callie Torres.' She grimaced awkwardly.

Izzie stuck out her perfectly manicured hand, 'Hey, I'm Izzie Stevens. Well, I'm technically Isobel Stevens-'

'But you'll never call her that unless you want Barbie sized hand prints engraved on your cheek.' Cristina interrupted, not bothering to introduce herself.

'I'll bear that in mind then.' Erica ran one hand through her hair. She peered round at Meredith, still sat on the window ledge.

'Oh. That's Meredith, you can't tell me you haven't heard of her. She's the one who tried practically everything to bail herself out in Freshman year.' Izzie explained, matter-of-factly.

'Oh I've heard alright.' Erica confirmed, pursing her lips and rocking back and forth on her heels.

Meredith was used to this, people talking about her. Behind her back or when she was in the same room. She knew Izzie meant no harm, and she wasn't concerned about the fact that Erica had heard about her. People talked. Hell, _she_ talked. When it wasn't about her of course.

* * *

She didn't bother unpacking. After half an hour spent staring out the window, Meredith made her weary way down the long staircase, to join her new 'peers', or whatever she was supposed to call them, at dinner.

The dining hall, just like the rest of the school, was very grand. Decked out in red rugs and long wooden tables, it managed to pull off the whole 'homely' thing just as well as the dorms, which was weird.

Meredith was one of the last to enter. She half expected a huddle of lecherous teenagers peering over each others' heads to get a better look at the new eye candy.

But no, of course not. As she rounded the corner into the hall she realised this was the boys equivalent to where she'd just come from - a renowned single sex boarding school for the intelligent (or, in Meredith's case, the rich). Instead sat rows of well dressed males quietly sipping drinks or nibbling at their appetisers. Seriously, appetisers?

Meredith cocked an eyebrow and sighed. Her shoulders deflated as she could set no one guy apart from the rest. All were plain. Plain and boring.

She collected a tray and received her avocado and prawns from the front of the hall, and sloped off down the aisle in the center to join Izzie and the others.

She was surprised to see they had company, beside Izzie sat a reasonably good looking guy with a buzz cut, talking animatedly to her, waving his hands around and smiling crookedly.

Across from Cristina sat a shorter, stumpier guy who did a double take as Meredith passed to sit down next to her friends. Meredith appreciated this, it was the first 'look' she's gotten so far. Sadly, the guy wasn't exactly Meredith's idea of a good lay.

She sat through most of the meal in silence, joining occasionally in conversation with the shorter guy whose name, she'd gathered, was George. Buzz cut guy was Alex, and he was shaping up to be an ass in Meredith's books, due to the sarcastic and, surprisingly lecherous, comments he kept throwing into the group.

_This is good news_, thought Meredith, _not all of them are total stiffs._

Just as they were picking up their spoons for desert (although Meredith was not hungry in the slightest - she'd hardly touched her steak), there came the sound of a shrill bell pealing from the front table.

The resident principal began his 'Welcome To Our School' speech, and Miss Woodshot gave a gracious thank you. Meredith blanked all this and played with her food.

The faint sound of running footsteps interrupted Meredith's thoughts. Nobody else had noticed as they all seemed to be completely enthralled by the teachers droning on and on about vandalism and showers and fraternizing and various other rules.

But Meredith noticed, and as the sound grew louder she also picked up the sound of laughter. Male laughter. Two guys. Meredith was an expert on guys and she deduced that by the sound of the footfall and the sheer animosity of their laughter that these guys certainly did not belong to the vast majority of the school - the 'appetisers' division, as Meredith was now referring to them.

And as the principal was interrupted by two out of breath boys holding a hat filled with little bits of paper entering the hall, Meredith realised she was correct, they most certainly did _not_ belong to the vast majority.

These guys were something else.

'Sorry we're late Mr. Okes, took us forever to cut them up.' The speaker was tall, with dirty blond hair. Very muscular, very masculine, very sexy. Meredith might have considered sleeping with him if it weren't for the second speaker.

'Mr. Sloan, Mr. Shepherd. So glad you could make it.' The principal raised a quizzical eyebrow.

'Where should we put them Mr. Okefield?'

At the sound of that voice Meredith's heart stopped. She hated herself for that. Meredith Grey's heart didn't stop. Her heart wasn't the stopping kind. It pumped blood around her body, it did its job. It did not stop, or flutter, or doing any of the other forbidden things it was doing right now.

But she decided to punish it for that later. Because right now she was just basking in the pure heart stopping.. _something_.. that was filling her from head to toe.

'Oh just lay them on the side table over there, Mr. Shepherd. In fact... Mr. Shepherd could you get it over and done with?'

'Mr. Shepherd' glanced over towards the back of the room, where Meredith was sitting, and surveyed the girls with interest. He was obviously one of the few looking forward to sharing the school.

He. Was. Perfect. Absolutely.. _perfect._ His eyes, his striking, piercing blue eyes bore right through her brain and liquefied it. They actually turned her brain slushy and mushy, and she could swear if you drank it through a straw it would taste sweet. That was what this guy was doing to her.

She just couldn't stop staring. She didn't think she could talk if she tried. His hair and his smile and his voice and his laugh were all just too captivating. She couldn't help but wonder what he kept hidden underneath those expensive looking clothes.

And then he spoke again and she found herself hanging on to his every word. His voice was soft and entrancing and she wanted to breathe it in. Gulp it down and absorb the essence of it. She was sure it would feel warm and smooth, like honey.

She was going crazy. She was actually describing the _taste_ of his voice in her head.

She really did need a good lay.

'Okay. I'm sure Mr Okefield had already welcomed you so I'll just get on and do this.' He gestured towards the girls.

There was a general murmur of discussion, curious as to what he meant, and as the room quietened down 'Mr. Sloan' turned to face the school, jiggling the hat around in his large hands and gave a fleeting look around the hall, as if searching absently for somebody.

'I'm Mark, he's not important, and we're your head boys.' The dirty blond guy addressed the Seniors. 'We've taken in all your head girl applications and placed them in this hat. Now I'm gonna' make this short and snappy.' He reached inside the black top hat and immediately pulled out a long, thin strip of paper.

'Congratulations,' Meredith's slushy mushy guy snatched the slip from Mark's grasp, 'Miss Meredith Grey.' He scrunched the paper in his hand and looked down the hall, waiting for somebody to walk to the front and deliver a speech or something.

Well, that's what Meredith had assumed. But nobody walked. The girls all turned to face her, and the boys followed suit once they'd figured out where they were meant to be looking.

The thing was, Meredith was in a state of shock. This could _not_ be happening. For starters, she hadn't even handed in an application in the first place. Then there was the fact that she didn't even _want_ to be head girl, or an authority figure of any sort. And finally, this meant she'd have to work with-

Wait? How was this a bad thing? She'd have to work with Mr. Gorgeous and that Mark guy. This was good. Good, right? Couldn't be bad.

'Meredith Grey? No Meredith Grey? Fine, we'll pick again-' Mark rolled his eyes and placed his hand back into the hat.

'No! Wait!' Meredith stood clumsily, nearly tripping over her feet as she made her way towards the front. 'That's me, Meredith Grey. I mean.. I'm Meredith Grey. Grey, Meredith. That's me, new head girl. Hi.'

_Damn. Way to make a first impression._


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Hello again! Wow this update came around faster than I expected. Guess I've got the writing bug now.

Let's just say I was gobsmacked by the amount of reviews I got for the first chapter. Yeah, yeah, it's not hundreds or anything, but I was expecting one or two at the most. -Is very pleased-!

Thanks so much, I hope I can keep this story updated regularly.

By the way, I do actually adore Addison. She's one of my favourite characters, but there had to be one of 'those girls' in this story.

Remember this is just the build up, I'm just setting things straight and trying to lay out foundations and build my own interpretations of the characters. No major plotlines yet but I can assure you they're on their way.

Oh, and you'll hate me at the end of this chapter, you really will.

Anyway, hope you like it!

**Disclaimer: **Grey's Anatomy 5x04 isn't coming round fast enough. If I owned it, there would be Grey's all day every day, save the ads in which I'd grab some biscuits and a mug of mocha latte.

Chapter Two: Brighter

'I. Will. _Kill._ Her.' Cristina Yang was pacing. Cristina Yang didn't pace. Well, Meredith had never seen her pacing. To be honest it was making her a tad uneasy. Then again, Meredith Grey's heart didn't stop. Not normally anyway.

'Why are you so hung up on this? Isn't it me that should be pacing?'

Cristina suddenly stopped pacing and stared down at Meredith with an incredulous look.

'Feel free to pace, pace all you like! But I haven't seen you bat a fricken' eyelid so far today and the Meredith Grey I know would bat an eyelid. She'd bat both eyelids and probably some other body parts that don't normally bat, just for good measure. But I see no batting, let alone pacing. So I'm pacing for you. But you can take my place any time.' She returned to her pacing.

'What if I don't want to bat? What if I don't want you to bat for me? I mean pace, pace for me. Because as much as I appreciate the gesture I really don't think there's any need for pacing. Not here anyway. You could go ask Addison... maybe she's in need of a pacer?' Meredith shrugged.

'Meredith, look. I am not going to be Addison's... pacer, or whatever. _Addison_ is in fact the 'her' I was referring to in my earlier statement, or perhaps you didn't catch that? Perhaps you were too busy pondering over a colour scheme for the welcome dance, or whatever you head girls are supposed to be doing!'

'Head girl, Cristina. Girl, singular. There's one of me.'

'Why don't you care? Why aren't you freaking out, it's like you _want_ to be head girl, singular, or something.'

'Maybe I do. Maybe it isn't so bad. Why should I object anyway? It was my name that got pulled out. Therefore I'm now head girl. End of.'

'Yes, Meredith, it _was_ your name. That's the problem. You didn't put your name in there in the first place! Somebody else did. Somebody tall and leggy. She's ruined you! This is just the beginning. Pretty soon you'll be carrying a handbag full of dog. Little dog. What was Addison's little brat's name again? Shmoochums?'

'Something like that, yeah. And we don't _know_ it was her. It could've been anyone.'

Cristina sighed, exasperated, and reached into the pocket of her denim slacks, pulling out a crumpled piece of paper splattered with gravy. She cleared her throat and spoke in an over exaggerated upper class accent.

'_Meredith, congrats. Maybe now you can get down to some real work. Either that, or I hear Mark Sloan's likes to sleep around. Love, Addie.'_

Meredith snorted, recognizing it as the note she'd received at dinner once she'd returned to her seat after her disastrous first appearance as head girl. 'Still doesn't prove anything. Perhaps she means it?'

'Addison Montgomery is a backstabbing snob who loves nothing better than to make people miserable. Meredith, she _wants_ you to hate this. Except... you _don't._ You're actually quite pleased. Why?'

'It can't be that bad. And even if she is the girl you're making her out to be, why should I give in to what she wants? I'm not going to be miserable just so her 'evil plan' or whatever can go perfectly.'

'This is _exactly _why. Meredith, I wouldn't care if you were miserable! In fact, I'd be pleased. But now I'm just plain worried. You're being optimistic about this entire situation and it's not like you. You're not being... all dark and twisty. And I don't see you denying the dog.'

'So you _want_ me miserable. Is that it Cristina? You want me to take this as a sign that the world is out to get me or something.'

'Yes!'

At that moment there was a knock on the door. Meredith shook her head at the ceiling, throwing her hands in the air and letting out a near growl of frustration as she turned the handle.

'Somebody else come to tell me my whole life should be full of misery and woe? Or perhaps it's that little dog I ordered earlier!' She shouted, funnelling her anger at Cristina, who was still pacing behind her, as she swung the door open.

'Misery and woe, hmm? I have a feeling I could help with that.' Meredith was met with the charming and slightly lecherous smile of Mark Sloan.

'Oh... Um... Hi! Err... Wh-'

'What am I doing here? Heads meeting. It's not nearly as dirty as it sounds unfortunately. Come on then.' He beckoned Meredith out of the dorm, leaving Cristina alone as Izzie and the rest had gone to explore the grounds. Meredith distinctly heard something large and heavy being thrown at the door as she followed Mark down the corridor.

'Oh! I forgot, you haven't been given the tour yet.' Mark grinned down at Meredith.

'No, I have. Earlier, before dinner. I wasn't really paying much attention.'

'Not that one. I mean the famous Mark Sloan tour. I can show you all the good places to-'

'I'm good thanks.' Meredith chuckled quietly, she knew what he'd meant.

'Suit yourself.' Mark smirked.

They rounded a corner into a courtyard that looked quite desolate compared to the rest of the school. She wondered why they were having a meeting in a place like that, it wasn't particularly grand and authorative. Then again, Meredith didn't exactly have much experience with this kind of thing.

She found herself wondering where 'Mr. Shepherd' was from earlier. Perhaps she'd heard wrong and he was just helping Mark out or something, but she could've sworn he was the other head boy. That was kind of weird, having two head boys. Wasn't it?

She seriously needed to do some research on this whole head girl thing. Maybe Izzie could help.

Speak of the devil, Mr. Gorgeous himself appeared from the opposite direction, 'Sorry I'm late. Freshman must think we're gods or something, I half expect them to ask for my autograph.'

He shook his head and flashed a smile at Meredith. There it was again, the slushy mushy feeling. Push it back, away, bad brain! Oh god he was doing a little shuffling thing, like he was nervous. Oh that was cute. She wanted to hug him. Except he obviously wasn't nervous. He had no reason to be. Of course he didn't.

He was saying something. Meredith managed to pull herself out of the slushy, mushy pit that was fast becoming her brain. She only caught the end of it.

'-not really that bad though once you get used to it.'

Um. He was talking to her. What was she supposed to say? She couldn't just say nothing. Damn, she felt ten again, talking to her first crush. She'd always hated that word. Ten years old was pre-dark and twisty Meredith. She was just slightly miserable, still living in a twisted fairy tale. It wasn't until a couple of years later that she'd dropped 'fairy tale' from the equation.

'Oh?' That was the best reply she could come up with. It was a broad question, inviting him to elaborate without letting on she hadn't heard him.

'Yeah, we both entered for a joke. Head boy was picked at the end of Junior year. Ended up with my name being pulled out of that crappy old hat they used to use before Mark donated his. Then I got called home for... stuff. Didn't think I'd be back. Mark was appointed new head, strangely enough. Luckily for them I came back this year.' He looked pointedly at Mark.

'Hey man, what was that supposed to mean?!' He pulled a face.

Meredith giggled. Mr. Gorgeous looked up suddenly, catching her gaze. She didn't think she could look away, ever.

At least now she'd solved the whole 'two head boys' mystery. Obviously Mark wasn't exactly willing to step down.

It was then she realized she still didn't know his name. His name didn't seem to important, however. He would still just be... Mr. Gorgeous. Gorgeous didn't really do him justice, but hey.

'So anyway, now we rule this place. Pleased?' Mark smiled, pleased with himself, and turned to Meredith.

'I'm not really a ruler, or a leader or anything like that. I'm more of a 'sit in a room and drink a bottle of tequila' person.'

'Tequila. I'm impressed.' Mark cocked an eyebrow.

'I'm rather scared. You don't seem like a tequila girl. Now I'm wondering what else you're hiding. You a gun wielding psychopath?' Mr. Gorgeous feined backing away.

Normally that kind of question would've pissed Meredith off. But right now she could only giggle. Giggling wasn't her. She was beginning to disgust herself, with all this giggling, heart stopping slushy mushiness. What was wrong with her?

'Tequila is the drink of the gods.'

'And in this school, we _are_ gods.' Mark nodded.

'Exactly,' Meredith acknowledged.

'Okay. So, so far in this heads meeting we've established that Mark wouldn't be here without me, and Meredith could be a murderess. Any other points I can add to today's report?' Mr. Gorgeous looked around expectantly.

'Derek's got a hard on?' Mark offered, gesturing towards the nether part of Mr. Gorgeous' anatomy.

Derek. Was that his name? She was wrong. He wasn't still Mr. Gorgeous. He was... _Derek._ She wanted to say it out loud, hear the syllables roll off her tongue.

_Dammit! She was pathetic!_

'What the hell is that supposed to mean?!' Eyes wide and mouth open, Derek invited Mark to explain.

'What it means is that you have been thinking about getting into Meredith Grey's pants ever since our first encounter earlier on this evening.

'Have not.'

'See? You can't even think of a decent denial. That speaks volumes to me.' Mark smiled, his point proven.

Meredith was dying on the spot. She wished Mark hadn't mentioned Derek and Meredith and pants all in the same sentence. That was more than she could handle. Mark had it the wrong way round. it was Meredith who wanted to jump Derek right there and then, _al fresco._ Derek obviously had no interest in her whatsoever.

'Look, I'm not denying Meredith is absolutely stunning. Because she is. I'm just saying it would be rather distasteful of me to be thinking about sex this early on.' He winked at Meredith.

Her heart stopped again.

_Damn._

Nobody had ever called her stunning before. She was 'hot' or 'sexy' if guys were trying to pick her up. And she was 'slutty' or 'a whore' if they weren't. But _stunning_. He must just be saying it to make her feel better about the whole situation. It was, after all, embarrassing.

_Stunning._ Wow.

And he'd said 'sex this early on.' Did that mean there would be a later on? Or was she simply misinterpreting his words? Maybe he'd meant early on in the school year. And not necessarily sex with _her. _Just... in general.

He was running his hands through his (mmm, perfect) hair and looking around. Anywhere but at her.

Meredith deflated. It was a misunderstanding.

Why was she getting so worked up anyway? Meredith Grey didn't _do_ relationships. It was a 'love 'em and leave 'em' thing with her. She was the one being left, always. So she'd learnt not to form romantic attachments to any guy. _Why was it he seemed different?_

Of course, he was sexy as hell, which was Meredith's usual type anyway. But he didn't seem to be a one night stand guy. She could see him as a relationship person. She could see herself in a relationship, with him.

_Shut up, shut up, shut up._

Mark let out a long, low whistle. 'I'll just leave you two alone then.'

Derek didn't object as Mark ran off across the courtyard.

'I'll see you tomorrow Mere!' He yelled and waved goodbye.

Derek turned to Meredith and gave her a look. A real... _look._

He cleared his throat and opened his mouth, as if to speak.

'Derek! Honey I've been looking everywhere for you! I just saw Mark, he told me you were in the library. But you're not... That's weird, right?'

A girl appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. Her curly brown locks flying about in the breeze. She turned to him, tapping her foot on the cold granite floor of the courtyard and took one of his hands in hers.

He drew his other hand through his hair once more and then slowly, rested an arm limply round her waist.

'What can you expect, Rose? He's Mark.' He rolled his eyes. 'Err, Meredith this is Rose, my girlfriend.'

The sexual tension, or whatever it was, was gone. Replaced with something cold and numbing.

'Hm.' Rose gave Meredith a curt glance up and down and rested her head on Derek's shoulder.

'Come on then, let's go.' He led her away slightly, before looking over his shoulder and smiling deeply.

'It was great meeting you properly. Perhaps we can meet up tomorrow? Without my buffoon of a best friend. '

'Sure', Meredith forced a smile, before watching them round the corner once more, leaving her feeling slightly lost.

_And this is why it's a bad sign when Meredith Grey's heart stops._

She sighed and turned reluctantly to return to her dorm. If only she could remember the way.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Sorry about the 'less than fast' update. I'll probably start to update in regular intervals from here on in. Mondays and Fridays or something. I can never write on Thursdays, I'm out all evening.

Oooh, another thing. Some of the ages might not add up. What with Meredith daydreaming of tequila and men in Manhattan when she got sent off to boarding school in Freshman year, she would've been too young, I think. I admit it now, that was a little silly of me. Please don't go all pedantic on me though, just ignore the details and read it as a work of fiction.

(Plus, I'm English - I live in the world of 'year 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, college' etc. I'm trying to get this whole High School thing right though...)

Anyway! I know you all hate me right now, and you'll hate me even more after you've read this: As I've mentioned to a couple of reviewers (sorry about the lack of replies by the way, I'm bad at this), I never actually planned on writing Rose into the story in the first place.

-Gets ready to be pelted with rocks-

Yeah I was going to write it all happy MerDer from the beginning, with a few twists and turns and none too much melodrama. It seems my fingers ran riot on my keyboard, however, and tossed Rose into the frying pan.

Mmm I'm starting to hate myself a lil' bit too. Now, enough of the uber long A/N!

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Grey's, Rose would never have existed. And so you wouldn't hate me right now, because she wouldn't be in this story!

Chapter Three: That's What You Get

'Well I'm very happy for them, I hope they're crowned homecoming king and queen... or whatever they call it in this place, and get married and have lots of little Thorns.'

'Roses, Cristina, her name is Rose.' Meredith lay back on her bed, head dangling off the end and hand playing with a piece of frayed rug. Callie, Erica and Izzie were nowhere around, and it seemed Cristina hadn't stopped pacing since Meredith's disappearance an hour ago.

She'd managed to find her way back to the dorm and let herself in, explaining briefly to Cristina why she was so 'zombified' as her friend had put it before throwing herself into the position she was now in. On her bed. Upside down. Playing with a rug.

'See this is what I mean! You're not meant to know her name, or care about her name either. In fact, you're not meant to care whether or not she's dating McDreamy in the first place.'

'McDreamy?' Meredith snorted.

'He needs a name.'

'His name is Derek.' A slight flush overcame Meredith's entire body as the ghost of his name tingled on her vocal chords.

'No it's not. I refuse to call him by his given name. In fact, I shouldn't _know_ his name in the first place, because you should not be confiding in me about your McLove for him.'

'I have no McLove. Not for him, not for anybody.'

'See, if you were five-hours-ago-Meredith, I would've believed you. Now, I don't believe you. You want to know why? Because you are on your bed, upside down, sabotaging a rug.'

'Mere's in love?' Izzie stepped out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel and smelling of a sickly mix of tropical fruits. An incredulous look spread across her features as she glanced from Meredith to Cristina to Meredith again. Cristina scrunched up her nose and turned away, making sick faces at the smell of Izzie's putrid body wash.

'No. I am not in love, neither do I have a crush, nor am I secretly pining for, or having forbidden passions with _anybody_. Now can you all just leave me alone?' Meredith groaned deeply, lifting her hands from the rug so she was dangling off the edge of her bed, burying her face in them.

'So you can wallow.' Cristina grinned smugly, crossing her arms.

'No, Cristina. No!' Meredith's tiny fists banged against her duvet in abandon, pushing her body further over the side until all she could see was the underneath of Cristina's bed. Then a small piece of cloth lain neatly on the polished wooden floor sparked her interest. Curiously she reached out a hand to try and grab the corner. Still an inch away, she wriggled closer towards it.

Izzie re-entered the bathroom with a defeated expression, her optimism at the idea of a boarding school romance snubbed out.

A loud bang, an 'Ow, fuck!', and a shriek of laughter (courtesy of Cristina) filled the room as Meredith did a less-than-gracious flip off her bed and landed, head first, on the floor.

'Damn!'

'Old Meredith wouldn't have let herself-'

'Shut up about god damned old Meredith and help me move your bed!' It was hard to tell whether Meredith's face was red with frustration or the impact of her twenty centimetre fall, but the colour was starting to resemble that of an over-ripe tomato.

'Move... my bed?' Cristina raised an eyebrow in question.

'Yes. There's something under there.'

'Like what? Your sanity? 'Cause we could really use that right now...'

'Not the time for sarcasm. My head hurts and I swear, if you try the third degree on me one more time I _will_ kill you.'

'Fine. I'll help you move the stupid bed.' She hopped off the end and joined Meredith in pushing the great iron brute a couple of metres across the room.

'Christ... heavy... ugh... head.' Meredith puffed.

'Oooh! What are we doing?!' Izzie had rejoined them, dressed in a floral mini-dress and white shawl.

'Where are you off to, Barbie?'

She mumbled something about Alex and 'not date' and Cristina left it at that.

'Well good for you Iz, I would congratulate you but a) I'm a little busy right now and b) Cristina would probably make some annoying comment about my love life, when we've only been here less than five hours and there is no way on Earth I could possibly develop a substantial 'love life' to be gossiped about in that amount of time. And, seeing as my past history extends to drunken one night stands which I only got on the rare days we were allowed offsite, you would think people would have gathered by now I'm not the relationship, or 'love life', type. But no! The whole student body, including my so called 'person' seem to be intent on making my life a god damned public event! Now, can you help us move this bitch just a few more inches?' Meredith sighed as she banged her head wildly against the heavy metal bed frame.

'Yeah about that,' Izzie coughed nervously and bit her lip, 'what's with the bed?'

Meredith looked up, catching Izzie by surprise with her dishevelled hair and fluorescent face. 'Just help us, _please_?'

'Um. Okay!' Izzie nodded curtly and walked round to the other side of the bed. Eventually the three of them managed to move it the last few inches to uncover the scrap of white cloth Meredith had noticed whilst 'wallowing' (she was going to hit Cristina for that later, Meredith Grey doesn't wallow).

The trio collapsed against the bed, Meredith hitting her head against the bed _again_ in the process. She reached round with one hand to rub the back of her stiff neck, and with the other reached forward and tossed the cloth aside.

Cristina was in the middle of giving Meredith a sceptical look when Izzie let out a gasp of delight and scrambled forwards to examine what looked like a trap door.

'Holy shit! What if it leads to like a secret passage, with dead bodies at the end of a long and winding corridor?! Or maybe there's treasure, or an escape route into a forgotten shack in the middle of a shopping village! Shopping, guys!'

Cristina shook her head slowly and dubiously, 'You read way too much crap. Maybe it just leads to the boiler room. I've wasted my time, there's no way I'm getting caught exploring, or whatever it is we'll end up doing. I have things to do.'

'Like what? We haven't got any homework yet, and we're not checked on until eleven.' Meredith fingered the steel latch keeping the door in place.

'But we're meant to stay in our rooms after ten.' Cristina purposefully picked up an old copy of _Gray's Anatomy_ from her bedside table and scanned a random page.

'Whatever. I'm going, you Mere?' Izzie grinned excitedly, clapping her hands together in anticipation.

Meredith shrugged, 'Why not? It could lead to one of the guys' dorms or something,' she smirked devilishly.

'See ya' Cristina!' Izzie waved mockingly as Meredith unhooked the latch, she gestured to her rumpled friend, 'After you.'

Meredith glanced down into the hole the door had left. It seemed to go on for a while, but there was a ladder down the side and she wasn't one to back out. She stuck her tongue out at Cristina, who didn't feel the effects of the childish gesture one bit - she seemed intent on reading the same page over and over - and swung her legs over the edge, disappearing into the dark.

Izzie followed not long after, and after ten or so minutes of fumbling around in the pitch black, trying to hold onto the ladder and avoid the little nails scattered across the walls, they finally reached the bottom.

The last remnants of light disappeared as they rounded a corner into a dark walkway. The black enveloped them and they could no longer see, at all.

'Hey Izzie, haven't you got a date?' Meredith suddenly remembered, stopping in her tracks and turning round in a vain attempt to search out the way they'd come.

'Non-date. And no, that's tomorrow. I was just trying a few things.' Meredith couldn't see but Izzie had flushed a luminous tinge of pink.

'Oh.' Meredith looked down at her shoes, or rather, she would have done if she could see them, but she found herself staring into nothingness. She found herself wondering in the back of her head what it must be like to be Izzie - to have a choice of different dresses to try on, to not care about much but her grades, and now of course; guys, to have parents who obviously loved you. She smiled a small, slightly sad smile. Nobody saw it, she wasn't even sure it had happened, and she carried on walking.

They felt their way along a narrow passage in silence, not knowing how long they'd been down there and what kind of shape their clothes were in.

_What if we do end up in a guys' dorm? What if it's Der-_ _No. Don't go there. Cristina's right. Of course, don't admit that to her. She'd gloat for weeks. But she is right, you've only known him for less than a day, and you're already- Already what? You don't like him. Meredith Grey doesn't like guys. She lusts after a select few, that's it. No feelings, no strings, no... butterflies!_

Meredith's inner rambling was interrupted by a loud squeal from Izzie, who had somehow made her way ahead during the time Meredith was spacing out.

'Mere! I see a light!'

'Iz, that sounds a little bit weird,' Meredith said in a sing-song voice, giggling slightly, 'what kind of light?'

'I can see another ladder, and I think another trap door.'

'This place is weird...' Meredith thought out loud, 'I mean, trap doors, secret passageways, what are we, in Harry Potter?'

Meredith heard a sudden intake of breath, 'Shit! Mere! There's people up there! I can hear voices...'

'Male or female?' Meredith questioned cynically.

'I can't tell, it sounds all distorted down here. We should just go look.' Izzie placed a foot on the rickety ladder and began to climb. It didn't look as far up as the first one.

'Oh...kay.' Meredith chewed on her bottom lip and followed Izzie up.

Once they'd reached the near top Izzie reached up and tried to push the door above her head, 'Crap, it's locked. We should've guessed...'

'I guess we should make our way back then, I mean it's not as if-'

'Ssh! I think someone's opening it.'

Meredith heard footsteps above her head and the familiar sound of a latch being unhooked. A bright light hit the duo's eyes as the wood was lifted up above them. They squinted and suddenly a huge waft of chlorine attacked their senses and their eyes were met with the sight of a topless Mark Sloan.

Meredith gulped.

_Shit._


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** So much for the Mondays and Fridays plan... I'm beginning to realise my updates come in twos. Not sure if you should expect another one for a couple of weeks.

I'm increasingly happy with the reaction to this story! Although I do get a whole host of emails per day informing me that my story alerts are growing, but there are many less reviews. Come on, be even nicer, take the time to write me a comment too.

A huge thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far, I've decided to try to reply to every review from now on. Please forgive me if real life gets in the way, it's a rather pesky business I'm sure you'll agree.

Feel free to message me discussing season 5 of Grey's, I reeeeally need to talk to somebody about what's going on but none of my 3D friends watch it -cries-

So sorry about this chapter. I'm not sure what to think of it really. There's a lot of rambling and 'in Meredith's head' kind of stuff so if you can decipher what I'm trying to portray then you might like it. I'm very nervous about posting this.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the update. It's the one where I break the pattern of beginning every chapter with Cristina. Don't know why I'm so upset about that.

**Disclaimer:** After watching the previous episode of Grey's Anatomy I have come to the conclusion that I could never be that cruel to a pig. So there you have it, I obviously don't own.

Chapter Four: Whoa

'No shit. That tunnel goes your way too.' Mark's eyebrows rose a few centimetres and he sniggered slightly, 'We never even thought of going further than here. Then again, it took us about six months to find our little escape route, yet you find it within hours. Good going, Grey.'

Meredith and Izzie, after being hauled up off the ladder and spending the last few minutes explaining to Mark exactly how they'd ended up there, were still looking around the room in awe.

'This is crazy.' Izzie finally stated, 'Undeniably awesome, but crazy all the same. Does anyone else even use this place?'

'Not that we know of. We've kept the whole weird secret passage thing on the down low.' Mark cleared his throat and glanced over at the trapdoor.

Meredith followed his gaze and furrowed her brows, 'We... as in you and-'

'Derek, yeah. We've been coming here since freshman year, only place we get to hang out. It's quiet. Of course this year it's gonna' be more difficult. Head boys and all, got so much crap to do.'

Meredith gulped twice. Once at the mention of _him_ and again at the reference to heads' duties. She had to get out of here, and fast. If he turned up while she and Izzie were still here she'd probably drown herself. It would be pretty easy, 'cause it just so happened they'd ended up in a swimming pool. An amazing majestic swimming pool with white tiled walls and floors, secluded changing rooms and a huge ceiling engraved with several giant cherubs. The pool was clean, which was odd considering that Mark had just told them nobody else came here, and the huge gold-leaf double doors were bolted shut with a thick plank of wood.

'But, um.' Izzie bit her lip in an attempt to stifle her giggles, 'It's only you here.'

Mark looked confused. 'Derek had something to deal with. Or someone, I guess.' He glanced across at Meredith but his expression was unreadable and she couldn't tell who he might've meant.

'But we heard voices.' Izzie provoked.

'Just one voice, me. All aloney on my owny. So glad you could join me.' He winked at them both. Izzie made a face of disgust and muttered something that sounded like 'arrogant pig'.

'Look, ain't a guy aloud to sing to himself?'

Izzie sniggered. Meredith raised a sceptical eyebrow. Mark looked something vaguely resembling embarrassment.

'Anyway, I'm going to do what I came here to do. Now I see you didn't exactly come prepared. I don't have a problem if you're gonna' find those clothes a bit impractical to swim in, you can leave them over there.' He gestured to the changing rooms and took a dive, only to resurface straight away and begin doing lengths.

Meredith and Izzie exchanged a withering look. Meredith shook her head fast and decisive, no way was she swimming, especially not without clothes, with Mark Sloan (whom, she had gathered in the short while she'd known him, was a manwhore to the highest degree) in the same room. Meredith Grey didn't swim, especially not with men she hardly knew. Then again, Meredith Grey was doing many things she'd never done as of late. Still, she didn't think it was quite time to break the mould in this situation.

At that moment a shuffling noise sounded from underneath the trapdoor. Meredith immediately froze. She couldn't breathe, move, or think anything but _Derek Derek Derek._ And then _Derek without a shirt, swimming._ Delicious images flitted across her mind, replaying again and again in slow motion and different angles and zooms. She was screwed. Good old fashioned teenage lust was doing her no favours. Because that's all it was right? Lust. Meredith finally gave a juddering nod intended for herself, and received a look of concern from Izzie as she wrapped her arms round her own waist and began to shiver.

'Just cold.' She insisted, continuing to nod, for her own reassurance rather than anyone else's.

And then he was there, right in the vicinity. He didn't seem at all taken aback to see Meredith and Izzie leaning against the side of the pool. Izzie watching Mark do lengths with fleeting interest and Meredith, wide eyed and jittery and looking a lot less cool and collected than she would have liked.

He shot a friendly grin across at Meredith and a nod to acknowledge Izzie as he shimmied his way up from the darkness onto the tiled floor. This action didn't help Meredith's state of mind in the slightest, as all she could focus on was the movement of his hips, and that brought about many thoughts that she really could do without. She tried to focus on the floor, but in that moment everything just led to sex. Every thought could be connected to something to do with _Derek. Want. Now._ Her train of thought was illogical and that of a crazed sex-addict but she just couldn't help herself. He was just... he just _was._

And then he was talking again, and just like before his mouth was moving but Meredith could hear no words because all she could think about was his lips. And then she realised he was saying her name which in her opinion meant life could get no better. He was saying her name and she was smiling stupidly. She realised this but didn't stop herself. She had more important things on her mind, like him.

All of a sudden she was feeling _very_ uncomfortable in her clothes and a part of her mind that made no sense at all was telling her to take Mark Sloan up on his offer of swimming if it meant _clothes. Off. Now._

And then she remembered.

_Derek. Boyfriend. Girlfriend. Rose._

Meredith suddenly found herself wishing she had brunette ringlets and a perfect smile.

She closed her eyes to collect her thoughts and tried to retune to the here and now but couldn't quite grasp the frequency. Everything was weirdly fuzzy sounding and the words kept ringing in her head. _Derek. Boyfriend._

She wanted to throw up. She tried to snap out of it, she _never_ reacted this way around guys, especially guys who were-

_Crap._ Taking off their shirts.

_Girlfriend. Rose._

She was beginning to get dizzy and it sounded crazy even in her head because this was stupid and immature and not the best way to make a good impression on your fellow school head. Because that was _all he was._

_Derek. Boyfriend._

She found herself wondering things about them. Were they in love? Was it arranged? The result of a dare? Maybe it wasn't serious. _Why did she care?_

_Girlfriend. Rose._

Rose. Rose... Rose? Why had she never seen this girl before today? Was she younger? A Junior? Sophomore perhaps. No, she looked older than sophomore. Why didn't Cristina know her? Cristina knew faces. She knew faces like she knew every single fact they'd ever covered in class. And why was she _already_ Derek's girlfriend when they'd only arrived a few hours earlier? Did they know each other beforehand? This was crazy. Meredith wasn't meant to didn't care. Because Meredith Grey _doesn't_ care. Not about trivial teenage issues like guys and friends and relationships. She especially didn't care about Derek and his girlfriends' personal life, or their past. No way. Not her.

She decided to try the door, and as she started to walk her clothed arm brushed against Derek's bare one and despite the fact the material was there to act as a barrier she still got a flush of warmth spreading across her body. She wanted to get out of there.

_She needed to get out of there. _

She carried on walking swiftly across the tiles, her doc martens click-clacking against the cold, hard surface. A thin sheen of sweat was beginning to cover her forehead and she could tell they were all looking at her but she couldn't bring herself to turn around because that would mean seeing _him, _topless. With pecs and abs and maybe chest hair.

_Well done Meredith you can recite several parts of his anatomy from memory. _

Not that she cared about his chest, it's just, well. It was perfectly natural for a woman to react in... certain ways. It wasn't just this particular guy. It was all guys. Meredith Grey _liked men._ It was perfectly within her rights to appreciate the male anatomy.

_'But you didn't react that way to Mark,'_ a contrary little voice in her head reminded her. Meredith didn't listen because Meredith Grey doesn't hear voices.

She needed Cristina. She needed her sanity. She needed to _get out of there._

She'd admit to Cristina she was right, she'd give Izzie back the jeans she'd borrowed forever ago, she'd stop doing whatever it was she was doing that seemed to make the gods hate her!

She just wanted _out_. But she couldn't have it because it suddenly dawned on her frazzled little brain that the door was bolted shut. The only way out would be the trap door and she knew that there was no way she was getting down that ladder right then.

So she stupidly turned around...

...And was met with the most heavenly sight she'd been trying to erase from her imagination. But this time she managed to stop panicking and just _breathe_ for a second. Her eyes dragged slowly across his naked torso and took in all the pure male goodness. He was perfect everywhere, it seemed. She could hardly contain her need to see more.

He could probably see her looking. For some reason Meredith couldn't bring herself to care. She was breathing again and her mind was clear again and she could see perfectly well again. Oh she could see again. And she couldn't imagine herself _not_ seeing the man in front of her.

_Crap. He was walking towards her._

'Meredith? You alright?' He bent down slightly so his eyes were aligned perfectly with hers. His blue eyes. She could probably gaze into them for hours. They were blue. She decided she liked the colour blue. She gave a nervous girlish giggle.

And then she clamped a hand over her mouth. She had to stop this whole giggling thing. It couldn't be healthy.

'I'm... I didn't feel so great. Now I'm amaz- good. I'm good.' She could hardly believe the rambling garbage that was rolling off her tongue.

Mark Sloan finished off with one final length and lifted himself onto the edge of the pool. Spinning round in one smooth motion he stood and strode over.

'I'm off to change.' He patted Derek on the back, 'Good luck with that hard on.'


End file.
